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Luke 7:1-10

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

By: The Very Rev. Robert S. Munday

The centurion was one of the most unlikely persons ever to know Jesus. He was a Gentile. Doubtless he had a pagan upbringing. He was a Roman, stationed in Palestine to subject the Jews to the Emperor’s rule. He was a man of war. He achieved the rank of centurion by showing leadership but also by distinguishing himself above others in hand to hand combat. Not exactly the résumé you would expect for becoming one of the Bible’s great heroes of faith. So what in the world had happened to this man? We don’t know. But there he is in Capernaum, a miracle of God’s marvelous grace. And he is a firstfruit and a foreshadowing of what Jesus had come to bring about—the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He was a living illustration that “many [would] come from the east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).

This centurion is also a reminder to us that “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). I think we will be surprised someday when Jesus doles out rewards. Most of the great ones among us will probably have lived in obscurity. Jesus is not as impressed with titles, degrees, and achievements as we are. He is impressed with those who really, simply, and humbly trust Him. In the context of saving faith or healing faith, we are not talking about orthodoxy, i.e., faith as right belief; we are talking about faith as trust. Now, to be sure, faith as trust has to begin with right belief: The centurion had to know and believe who Jesus was before he could trust him to heal. But then, in the light of knowing who God is, knowing His Word and His promises, we have to trust Him. Faith is our answer to God’s promises, our response to God’s grace and mercy. Faith is not fantasy; faith is a covenant relationship. Billy Graham has been quoted as saying, “God will not reward fruitfulness; He will reward faithfulness.” The centurion was faith-full, full of faith. How do we grow to be full of faith? By not merely knowing the facts about God but by knowing God, through his Son Jesus, and by trusting Him to be all that He says He is and all that He wants to be in our lives.